This year we have a new spork champion: Erin Pitkow! Going into the competition everyone expected last year’s runner-up Vanessa Gonzalez-Rychener-Rychener to win. Everyone saw Vanessa running through the halls with her spork beneath her knees or sitting in spork-free zones with the utensil still in hand. Henry was the wild card in this competition: he was sneaky and went undetected.

On Tuesday, May 28th, dozens of students gathered around the gaga pit behind the high school building. Many students waited as our referees Kamili Wiley and Tia Chitty walked out wearing striped shirts and a large whistle. Our three competitors stepped into the pit as their classmates cheered. Each stood and shook hands with the other, waiting for the officials to begin the finale. 

The three competitors began to circle the center of the pit lunging toward each other. The first to be eliminated by Erin was Henry Horne. Now we were down to two: the favorite, Vanessa, and the underdog, Erin. Both were on the attack, but at some point, Erin began to force Vanessa against the wall. Vanessa began to move backward, but reached the wall and fell out of the pit. After her fellow classmates caught her, Erin took the opportunity to spork Vanessa in the leg. And just like that, Winchester Thurston school crowned Erin Pitkow as the 2023-2024 school year’s Spork Champion.